


A New Tradition

by ashilrak



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 17:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9777092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashilrak/pseuds/ashilrak
Summary: Thomas was the best part about Valentine’s day. James would spend the entire day wallowing in his loneliness, and then Thomas would burst in with hair bouncing and smile as wide as can be. He’d sit down as close to James as he could, rest his head on James’ shoulder and then talk. He’d talk about anything and everything - from what shoes the principal was wearing that day to how he saw at least two couples break up before third period.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emmiimmeme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmiimmeme/gifts).



> This was written for a small Valentine's Day exchange I did :^))

l“I can already smell the roses I’m not Getting”

\---

James had long ago established a tradition in how he handled Valentine’s Day. 

As a young child, he had looked forward to the day, waited for the classroom party and the bag he’d set out on his desk to get filled with candy his mother would put away as soon as he got home. 

When he got old enough that the kids were no longer required to get Valentines for everyone in their class, he brought home an empty bag and begged his mother to let him stay home the next year.

It wasn’t that he wanted hoards of people trailing after him, throwing flowers and candy in his direction, it was just that James didn’t need the harsh reminder of just how much he wasn’t wanted by those around him. His mother tried her best, but even knowing she loved him wasn’t always enough to soothe the particular sting that came around this time of year.

And so he figured out a routine he could fall into to help ignore the bitter feeling rising in his chest. If it fell during the week, he’d beg his mom to let him stay home. If he was lucky, one of his colds would time itself so he was in the midst of the worst of it, and he’d get to spend most of the day lying in bed.

He’d stay in bed until noon, and when he did make his way in front of the television in the living room, he’d plant himself on the couch, wrapped by blankets, and watch whatever rom-coms were on for the day. If the fates played in his favor, he’d get through at least two movies before the tears started to fall, but since they never did, he’d get halfway through a box of tissues halfway into whatever was playing on Lifetime.

Just as he would getsick of sitting in the same position, Thomas would burst through the door with his usual gusto and go on and on about how obnoxious everyone was being. 

Thomas was the best part about Valentine’s day. James would spend the entire day wallowing in his loneliness, and then Thomas would burst in with hair bouncing and smile as wide as can be. He’d sit down as close to James as he could, rest his head on James’ shoulder and then talk. He’d talk about anything and everything - from what shoes the principal was wearing that day to how he saw at least two couples break up before third period. 

James’ mother would come in after work, shake her head fondly, and hand them both the small boxes of chocolate she had picked up from the drugstore on the way home. 

After dinner, they’d go back to the couch, and turn on old sit-coms . It was simple, but it was theirs, and James loved it.

He knew that with college there’d be change, but Valentine’s day hadn’t been one of the details he’d considered when he made the decision to enroll at a University about an hour away from Thomas’. 

He had thought he’d be able to deal with it. It wasn’t healthy to be around a person all the time, and their constant texts and frequent skype calls more than made up for the lack of physical touch. 

They hadn’t left each other’s side during winter break, and James threw himself into his schoolwork in an attempt to keep himself distracted. 

It worked, for the most part, but on Valentine’s day when James woke up and checked his phone, he realized that he was going to have to change his routine for the first time in years.

James resisted the urge to curl up in his blankets and go back to sleep, and instead rolled out of bed. The thump would have woken Aaron up were he sleeping, but since he wasn’t, all James got was a quick, worried look. 

It took twenty minutes to motivate himself to get up and out of bed, and he was almost late to class.

The day dragged on. James was never the most talkative, so no one bothered him for not speaking up. His hour and a half between classes for lunch was spent staring at a blank word document over a bow of lucky charms he wasn’t eating. 

James had every intention of crawling back into his dorm room and maintaining what traditions he could and going on netflix to find some shitty romcom James could cry over while Aaron was out wooing the TA he insisted he didn’t have a crush on. 

He expected to find a dark room smelling of stale coffee and ramen flavor packets. Instead, when he opened his door, he found the furniture pushed together, and a pile of blankets on the exposed floor. The tv had also been moved to the floor, across from the pile of blankets, and James could smell pizza. 

He took a careful step into the room, and set his bag down. Before James could finish taking of his coat, two arms wrapped around him, trapping his arms to the side. Whoever was holding him lifted him up into the air, and James yelled, “what the hell, who are you? Put me down right now oh my god.”

The room filled with familiar laughter, “what, Jemmy, don’t recognize me by my beautifully muscular arms? I’ll have you know that sonnets have been written about my arms, sonnets, Jemmy. Sonnets.”

“Thomas?” he asked, and started to kick his legs, “put me down so I can hug you. What are you doing here?”

James turned around to look at Thomas as soon as his feet hit the floor. Thomas was wearing his glasses and an old high school hoodie, and his smile took James’ breath away. James threw himself into Thomas’ arms and squeezed as tight as he could, “I missed you so much.”

Despite how skinny he was, Thomas’ hugs were some of the most comforting James ever got. 

Thomas chuckled, “I missed you too.”

“What are you doing here?” James’ voice was muffled into Thomas’ chest.

“To see you, of course.”

“But why?” James lifted his head, “How? You’re super busy and you don’t have a car.”

Thomas shrugged, “I borrowed a friend’s.”

“Why?”

Thomas’ smile grew, “to see you, of course.”

He shook his head, “you didn’t have to.”

“No, I didn’t,” Thomas said, “but I wanted to. It’s Valentine’s Day, and there are some thing I’m not willing to just stop because of something as stupid as distance.”

James laughed, “is that sad looking pile supposed to be a blanket fort?”

Thomas raised a brow, “And if it is, my darling diamond?”

“What did you just call me?”

Thomas let out an over exaggerated sigh, “get it, james, jemmy, jem, gemstone, diamond. I’m clever, and you’re not appreciating it.”

“I can’t let it get to you head.”

“Fine,” Thomas shook his head, “we can worry about this later. For now, we have some terrible, trashy movies to watch. I’m betting you don’t make it through one before you stare crying.’

James pushed against Thomas’ chest, “I bet you don’t even make it through half of one.’

“Oooh, what are the stakes?”

“To be determined.”

Thomas smirked, “Risky. I like that.”

James turned away so Thomas couldn’t see him get flustered, and sat down in the middle of the blanket pile, “alright, so what are we watching?”

“Whatever you choose.” Thomas made a gesture toward the tv, “I figured you’d hook up your computer or something and we could pick something off netflix.”

James grabbed his computer and charger out of the bag, “works for me.”

An hour into the movie, Thomas’ head was resting on James’ chest, and there was a bowl that was at one pointfull of popcorn beside them. Thomas leaned over to pause the movie before returning to his spot, “why’d we pick that movie.”

James laughed, “because it was one of the few we haven’t seen.”

“I know,” Thomas whined, “but a Marilyn Monroe rom-com, while great, wasn’t what I was imagining. The romantic gestures aren’t cliche enough, you didn’t cry, it’s terrible.”

“The movie’s not over yet.”

“I don’t care.”

James sighed, “what would you like to do instead? We have all of netflix, and some great dining hall food available to us. And if that doesn’t meet your high standards, there’s some ramen up in that cabinet there.”

Thomas didn’t say anything before he took in a deep breath, “I am going to take you, James Madison, on a date. A proper one.” He rolled off of James and reached into a bag that had gone unnoticed and pulled out a semi-crushed bundle of a dozen roses, “Will you be my Valentine?”

When James didn’t say anything, Thomas started to fidget with the plastic wrapped around the flowers. Thomas ducked his head, and when he looked back up, he looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else, “I’ll um, go. It was nice seeing you.”

Thomas set the flowers down on the blankets, and turned to grab his bag. Just as he was bending down, James ran forward and wrapped his arms around Thomas’ waist, “No! Don’t go! Of course I’ll be your Valentine!”

“Really?” Thomas’ tone was surprised.

“Of course! It was just unexpected.”

“I thought you were upset!” Thomas turned around to face James, “Are you sure you’re not just saying that?”

James nodded, “I’m definitely not just saying that. Thomas, you’re my best friend. This is the best thing that could have happened today, I promise.”

Thomas’ eyes widened, “you know I don’t mean as a friend, right?”

“I hoped.” James voice was small, but Thomas heard him, and that was all that mattered.

Thomas smiled wide, and he hugged Thomas again, cheeks hurting from how wide he was smiling. When he pulled away, Thomas asked, “are you crying?”

He wiped his eyes and chuckled when he saw they were wet, “Huh, I guess I am, it’s definitely happy though.”

“I think you just lost the bet.”

James gasped, “I did not! That doesn’t count! We’re not watching the movie anymore!”

“That sounds like something a loser would say.”

“Oh my god.”

Thomas shrugged, “And remember, I get the pick the stakes.”

“I regret that.”

“No, I’m hoping you’ll like this one.”

“Oh? Really?” James asked.

Thomas nodded, “Yes.”

“So, what is it?”

Thomas leaned down, “As winner, I ask for a kiss.”

James smiled, “I can do that.”

It was perfect. This was something James had only allowed himself to think about when curled up alone in bed, and reality even better.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to come pester me at my [tumblr](http://ashilrak.tumblr.com/)
> 
> <3 <3 <3 <3 <3


End file.
